Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
975 ughits for “conceive defeat”. I can accept “cannot conceive of defeat”, but to conceive defeat to me is an reshaping, dare I say eggcorn, of to concede defeat.
On the pitch he’s gutsy, aggressive and unable to conceive defeat until the final wicket.
(http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2002/jul/27steve.htm)
If Obama is ahead by 1 point, they are celebrating and almost saying that McCain should conceive defeat now. Ridiculous, isn’t it. (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index … 802AA4WA7Z)
See also “conceded” for “conceited”: http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … hp?id=2776
There are 1140 ughits for “conceited defeat”. The latter is a pure malapropism, I think. Conceited is a common adjective; a conceit is a noun. So “they conceited defeat” is illogical and anyone who knew what a conceit was would know better.
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I think the examples demonstrate that this is an eggcorn. Moreso with the latter. There are certainly other occasions where it’s an intentional reshaping: It reminds me a bit of the way sportscasters talk.
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